Police demand Arab MK apologize for insulting force’s spokesman on air

Police appear to threaten legal action against longtime Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi unless he apologizes for insulting their head spokesman on air.

Earlier today, the Ta’al MK called Israel Police spokesman Aryeh Doron derogatory names on a Channel 13 news broadcast, after the latter told him to be ashamed for likening the police to a mafia.

The spat erupted over a police officer’s killing of a Bedouin man during a midnight raid on his house in Tarabin al-Sana, a village in the Negev.

Tibi echoed claims made by the victim’s older brother, who was present at the scene of the lethal shooting, that police tampered with evidence at the crime scene by washing away the blood from the floor.

“Be ashamed, a member of the Israeli Knesset who calls the police a mafia,” Doron said to the lawmaker on air.

Tibi shot back, telling the spokesman, “Shut your mouth” and deriding him as a “loser” and “rascal.”

In a statement, police “strongly condemn” Tibi’s words and say they are “not only slanderous, but constitute the criminal offense of insulting a public servant.”

They add that the politician’s alleged crime “will be dealt with accordingly,” despite his parliamentary immunity protecting him from prosecution.

Police then call on Tibi to issue a public apology, while demanding that the press “not provide a platform for such conduct.”